My First Day of Kindergarten

I finally got to go to school. Skyler, Spencer, Keaton and Justis started yesterday, but I had to stay home. It was ok though because Dad took me to a movie. Just the two of us. It was a lot of fun.

But this morning was my big day. I woke up at 5am because I'm just not used to going to bed early. Plus I was so excited. But Dad made me go back to bed. Then he had to wake me up at seven.

Dad took us to the bus in the morning. I've seen Skyler & Spencer get on the bus many times, but this time I got to join them. We got in to line and waited for the bus. And then it was my turn to climb on.



School was awesome. I hung my green dinosaur backpack on the hook under my name. Then I put my nap towel in my cubby. My towel is a beach towel that has my name embroidered on it.

My teacher, Mrs. Viet, read us a story about a gingerbread man. That gingerbread man was tricky. He kept hiding. We looked in the cafeteria. We looked on the playground. But we couldn't find him. Finally Mrs. Viet found him by the back door in our classroom.

For lunch I had cheese pizza and applesauce plus cake for dessert. Yum! I got to eat in the cafeteria. That was so fun.

In school we have specials. Either music, art, PE or world language (Spanish). We had art today. I loved it.

Before we left we got a snack. We had gingerbread cookies. It went with our story. Cool!

Then I got back on the bus to head home.



Mom picked us up from the bus. She was so excited to hear about my day. She took a bunch of pictures of me and asked me how school was. I couldn't wait to tell her about my great first day of school.

Kindergarten Open House

I'm so excited. I got to go to my new school today. I saw my new classroom. And I met my new teacher. It was so much fun.



My teacher gave me a balloon and a four pack of crayons. How cool is that?

Mom and I put my school supplies away. Then we listened to my teacher. She talked about what we'll be doing in kindergarten. We're going to learn to read and write. And we are going to do math. I can't wait.

Yearly Checkup 2007

I had my annual visit with Dr. Emery today. I was a little worried when mom said I had to go to the doctor. Last time they hurt me. Mom said that hurting was called shots. I don't care what it was called. It hurt. I didn't hurt when they gave me a shot in my finger [ed. note: a finger prick to test his iron level], but the two [ed. note: actually three] shots in my leg hurt. Ouch.

But this doctor didn't give me a shot. He just looked at my lip. I was being really shy and refused to talk to anybody. They kept asking me about school. I'm really excited about school, but I was scared to talk to them about it. So instead I just let mom answer for me.

Dr. Emery looked at my lip. He rubbed it a little bit. He showed me the pictures of me when I was a baby and still had my cleft lip. Then the nurse took a picture of me.

Dr. Emery said my scar is still a little pink and my lip is a little full and kind of hard where the cleft was at. But, all in all, he's happy with my progress. He said we'll continue to track it annually and if it bothers me when I'm a teenager maybe he'll do another revision. We'll see at that time.

So that's all until next year.

I'm a Graduate

Today was my preschool graduation. I have had so much fun in preschool this year. We went on tons of field trips. We went to the children's museum, the nature center, the grocery store, the pet store, the gymnastics place...and a bunch more. It was awesome.

I also learned a whole bunch. We worked on the months and the days of the week. We talked about the weather every day. I can recognize my name now and I'm learning how to write it all by myself.

For graduation we went to the cafeteria in the elementary school. Our teacher, Tina, gave a really good speech about what a great class we were and how much she'll miss us. Then she called out our names one by one and our other teacher, Sandy, handed us our diplomas and shook our hand.

Aunt Candy, Uncle Jeff and Grandma O came to watch me graduate too. I felt like such a big kid with all my family there.

Now I'm officially a kindergartener!

I'm 5!

I'm finally five years old. I thought turning five meant I wouldn't have to sit in the booster seat anymore, but I was wrong. Mom said I have to be six before I can sit in the seat with just the seatbelt. Darn it. I was looking so forward to sitting in the seatbelt like my brothers and sisters.

But at least being five means I finally get to go to school. It's been pretty frustrating watching Skyler, Spencer, Keaton and Justis going to school every day while I sit at home. Finally, I get to join them. I can't wait.

For my birthday party we went to the park. Mom invited a bunch of my friends. We played on the playground, swang on the swings and dug our toes in to the sand. I got a lot of great presents; mostly Spiderman stuff because he rocks. Mom even got a Spiderman cake for me. It was so cool.

Happy Mother's Day

My preschool class has been preparing for this day for weeks. I had to keep it a secret though so mom didn't find out. I couldn't practice my songs in front of her so she would be surprised at our program.

We had a Mother's Day program for all our moms! And they loved it.

We learned a bunch of really cool songs and even learned some hip moves to go with them. When our moms got there we were already lined up waiting for them. We had a little contest for them. All of us had our baby pictures on a board in the back of the room. The moms were supposed to figure out who each kid in the pictures was. Mom couldn't volunteer much this year so she didn't really know the kids in my class very well. So she didn't do to well on the contest. In fact I think I'm the only kid she could pick out. Better luck next time mom.

After they finished the contest we performed our songs. Mom said we did such a good job. She was really proud of me. And, like she always does, she took tons of pictures of me. She even videotaped our songs.

After our performance we got juice and cookies. YUM! I like cookies.

Kindergarten Roundup

Today I had Kindergarten Roundup. I got to go to my new school and go in to all of the kindergarten classrooms. I got to meet most of the kindergarten teachers too. One of them is leaving and the new one hasn't started yet, so I didn't get to meet all of them yet.

We started the afternoon off in one classroom. There the principal talked to us and welcomed us to school. She also introduced us to Taxi, the school dog. She's a really big dog, so I was kind of scared at first. But she was really nice. She didn't even move when I pet her head.

Then we went in to another classroom where we did a little dance. It was kind of like the Hokie Pokie that my mom did when she was a kid. Only this was better. We were really silly.

When the dance was over, one of the teachers read us a story. It was about a mouse, a strawberry and a bear. The mouse was scared of the bear, but we never did see the bear in the whole story.

We finished up with strawberry fruit snacks and we drew a picture of the story.

Then we moved on to another room. There they tested my hearing and my vision. I did a good job. I passed both tests.

We finished the day in one final classroom. There we got to play. I played with some toy dinosaurs and painted a picture with water paints.

I think I'm really going to like school.

My First Conference

I had my very first conference today. It was my preschool conference. Mom and Dad sat down with my teachers, Tina and Sandy. They talked about how well I'm doing in preschool and everything I'm learning.

Did I Do That?

Today is Christmas Eve. It's supposed to be a good day. Heck, it's supposed to be a fantastic day. And it was...for the most part.

We went to Grandma O's to eat and open our presents. I got tons of cool stuff. I got so much play-doh mom won't need to be buy me anymore for at least a year. Plus I got a lot of movies too. So I should be able to find something to keep me entertained.

But dad put all of our presents in the car so I was left downstairs with nothing to do. Grandma had this really old book. It was all yellow and the pages were brittle. I assumed she didn't really want it anyway.

So I ripped some of the pages out. I even ripped some of them in half. I didn't think Grandma would even notice.

But then Grandma Cathy came downstairs and saw what I did. I could tell by the look on her face she wasn't happy. She called for my mom.

Uh-oh!

Mom came down and saw the book and she looked right at me. "Why did you do that?" she asked. I didn't know what to say. I just wanted to run and hide.

She repeated herself, "Why did you do that?" I started to cry and I said, "I don't know."

Mom took the book and all of the ripped pages up to Grandma O. Grandma O was very upset. Apparently she's had that book since she was in school a long, long time ago.

Grandma Cathy made me go upstairs and apologize. I didn't want to put Keaton and Justis picked me up and made me. I fought them the whole way.

When I got in front of Grandma I couldn't say it. Mom squat down and firmly said, "Tell Grandma you're sorry." I said, "No!" Mom said, "You need to tell Grandma you're sorry. That book was very important to her and you ruined it. Tell her you're sorry or you will be grounded."

I didn't want to be grounded. But I didn't want to say I was sorry either. I was scared. I didn't want everybody to be mad at me.

Finally, I whispered "I'm sorry" and ran away.

I feel so bad about it. I won't ever do that again.

Yearly Checkup 2006

I saw Dr. E today. It was a typical visit. He looked over my lip, took some pictures and then gave me some stickers.

He thinks my lip looks great and isn't recommending another surgery [yet]. He did mention that little bit of skin on my lip that sags in the front. I don't really know a better way to describe it. It's really on the bottom of my lip almost the inside of my lip and it sags just a little bit in the area where my cleft was at. Dr. E thinks it will tighten up as I grow, but he'll keep an eye on it at my yearly checkups.

Dr. E asked mom if anybody ever notices my lip. She told him about my friend Caden. Almost everybody who knows I was born with a cleft lip tell mom my lip looks fantastic and you can't even tell I was born with a cleft lip. But last week I was playing with my friend Caden and he said, "what's wrong with your lip?" I looked at him like "what do you me?" because I don't even really realize anything is wrong with my lip.

But, other than Caden, nobody has said anything for years. Dr. E said when I start school and get even more verbal [or self-conscious] I can let him know if kids are giving me a hard time about it. I can even decided if I think I need him to do another revision. Of course, I'll discuss it with mom and dad first. But it's nice to know my opinion counts.

Well that was this visit in a nutshell. I don't have to see Dr. E for another year. We scheduled the appointment for August so I can see him right before I start kindergarten and I won't have to miss any school.

The First Day of Preschool

Today was my first day of preschool. I'm going to the same preschool Skyler & Spencer went to so I'm familiar with the room; especially the toys. ;) Unlike Skyler & Spencer, who went in the mornings, I go every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon. That way I get to sleep in in the morning. I think it's going to be a good year. We're going to learn a bunch and make a lot of crafts and go on a ton of field trips. I can't wait.

My First Bike

Daddy got me a new bike today. A tiger bike. It's super cool. I couldn't wait to get on it and take it for a spin.



First daddy showed me how to work it. I figured out the peddling thing right away. It's just like riding Skyler & Spencer's big wheels or a trike. But it took me a minute to figure out how to stop. To stop I am supposed to push the pedals backwards. But when I'm going super fast down the sidewalk I forget to push back on the pedals. Instead I just throw my feet down on the ground to stop or else go in to the grass.



After I figured out the stopping technique, mom and dad put a helmet and some elbow pads on me. Then they let me give it a try all on my own. I have the pedaling down. It's the stopping that worries me. I gave it a go a few times and then decided to rest for the remainder of the day.

I'll give it another try tomorrow. I can't wait to figure this whole thing out.

Happy 4th Birthday To Me!

I'm four years old. Can you believe it? Mom can't. She keeps saying "I can't believe my baby is turned four." But she'll get over it. Imagine what a basketcase she'll be next year when I turn five. Hee hee.

I had a really great birthday this year. My birthday was actually yesterday. Mom gave me all kinds of hugs and kisses and wished me a Happy Birthday as soon as I got up. Then she kept calling me "the birthday boy" all day. I kept saying, "Yep, that's me."

Last night, Dad went to the store to get some party supplies for my birthday party. He also picked up some cupcakes; six white cupcakes and six chocolate cupcakes. And me and dad and mom and Keaton and Justis and Skyler and Spencer all had a cupcake [or two]. Even Jasper had a cupcake.

Then today it was still my birthday. Ok, it's not really still my birthday, but it's my birthday party. Grandma O, Aunt Candy, Grandma Cathy, Grandpa Brunsting and Ardyce, Necole, Jason, Kaitlyn, Jakob and Bryce, and Carolyn all came to celebrate.

They brought me some awesome gifts. I got a Hot Wheels race track, some “guys” [action figures including The Human Torch and The Thing] which came with motorcycles, the Chicken Little DVD, some play-doh, a Nerf gun, a Superman slip-and-slide, some legos and lots and lots of clothes [which I sooo desperately needed, but really wasn't all that interested in].

Everybody kept saying that I wasn't reading my cards. But I was listening when dad read all of them to me. I swear. When I opened Grandma O's card I decided to let everybody know I was actually reading them. I looked over the firetruck on the front. Then I opened up the card and read it. It said, "Now open up your present." At least that's what I thought it said.

After I opened my presents we headed in to the kitchen for cake. Dad got me a Spiderman cake. At least it looked like a cake. But it was actually cupcakes.



Everybody sang "Happy Birthday" to me and then I blew out my candles. It was a little touch blowing those candles out. Dad had to turn the cake around so I could get closer to the candles. But I got them blown out. And we all dove in to our cupcakes and ice cream.





I had so much fun. I can't wait for next year!

Dentist Schmentist

Well I'm officially never going to the dentist again. Up until today I really liked the liked the dentist. I didn't even really mind him brushing my teeth and looking in to my mouth all that much. And I really liked the fact that he gave me prizes when he was done.

But today...oh today that's all changed.

Today I had to have a cavity filled. I guess all that juice I drink and all of the sodas I sneak off of mom and dad's desks is starting to catch up with me. Maybe I should actually take mom's advice and drink the milk she gives me at lunch and dinner. I'll think it over.

So back to the dentist. I got there. I started playing with the toys like I always do. They called my name so I went back to see the dentist. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But then everything went crazy. He poked me. With a needle. And it did not feel good. In fact it hurt.

But it didn't stop there. Then he put a drill in my mouth. A DRILL. In my mouth. What?!? And he poked me and jerked my lips around and pushed on my teeth and yanked on my gum. It hurt. Really bad. And I was not at all happy.

Finally I saw my dad come in to the room. Where had he been this whole time? How could he let these people do this to me? I immediately started screaming. Hysterically. Then I threw down my new trinkets that the dentist had just given me and ran out of the room.

When dad and I got in the car I told him I would never go back to that dentist ever again. And I meant it.

I was so mad I yelled at dad the whole way home. He stopped the car. I yelled at him to "GO!" He said, "It's a red light." I so did not care. "GO NOW!" I said.

Man, I cannot believe this just happened to me. I will never. And I mean never. Go back to the dentist again.

Yearly Checkup 2005

I had my annual visit with Dr. E today. Just wanted to check in on him and see how he's doing. He moved to a new office and the rooms are much bigger. That was nice. Even though I never spend much time in them.

Dr. E took a look at my lip and said it looks good. It always does. He said that before I start kindergarten we may do another revision. [Will these revisions ever end?] He said that a lot of times parents just want to clean it up before a kid goes to school, because they don't want other kids to be mean or whatever. Nobody even notices my lip now though. So we'll see. Dr. E said he leaves the decision up to the parents. I do have a little bit of skin that hangs down on my lip where the cleft was at. And he said he could sand down the scar a little bit more so it's barely there.

But it's still two years before I start school so we have lots of time to think about whether or not we want to do more.

Dr. E also took a couple pictures of my lip. I stood really still and gave him a big smile like he asked me to. Mom said I was such a good boy. Dr. E even let me look at the pictures on his camera like mom always does. That was pretty neat.

So everything still looks good. And I got two dragon stickers. It was a good trip.

Learning About God

Last year Skyler and Spencer got to go to Sunday School every Sunday. I was so jealous. I wanted to go with them. But every time mom took me to church she wouldn't let me go to Sunday School. She always made me go to the nursery. And I did not like the nursery. Because it wasn't Sunday School.

But today. Today was a whole new day. Today, all five us [Justis, Keaton, Skyler, Spencer and me] got to go to church. And not just church, but Sunday School.

First we went to the Family Life Center and ate breakfast. They had eggs and sausage and french toast strips. Yummy!

Then we were supposed to go to our Sunday School rooms. I was ok with that. So I started to get on the elevator with my Sunday School teachers. But then I noticed that nobody was coming with me. Mom wasn't coming with me. Keaton wasn't coming with me. They were trying to send me alone. And I refused to go.

So I just stayed with mom.

Then Skyler & Spencer left with their teachers. I kind of wondered where they were going without mom. But they seemed to me ok. And I was still with mom so that's all that mattered. Them mom, Keaton and I went up the elevator with a bunch of other kids. I guess those kids are in mom's Sunday School class. But they are big kids. Big first and second grade kids.

When we got up to the classrooms Keaton went off to his room. Mom made sure all of her kids got to their room and then she left them with the other teacher. And she took me to my room.

There it was. The room that Skyler & Spencer went to last year. I recognized it right away. And I was ready to go. But mom made me get a name tag before she took me in to the room. Then I picked out a sticker for the attendance chart. and then I was off. Playing. I didn't even realize that mom left. I'm so excited about going to Sunday School. And meeting new friends. And playing. Oh, and learning about God.

It Finally Happened!

Mom and dad say I am now officially potty trained. I now go to the bathroom in the toilet every time [instead of in my pants]. I go both and pee and poop in the toilet. Mom and dad are so proud of me. They give me high fives and hugs and kisses. And I'm their big kid now. It makes me so happy when mom calls me that.

Yesterday morning mom was in the bathroom getting ready for work and I needed to go potty. I banged on the door. Mom said, "Just a minute." I said, "I have to go potty. I have to potty. I have to go now." So she opened the door for me. I rushed to the toilet, whipped down my underwear and went potty. Mom was so happy that I made it in time. I've got this down.

Late last night [or rather, very early this morning] I had my first accident in days. It was 1am and I had to go potty. I got out of bed, ran to the bathroom and sat on the potty. It wasn't until I was done going that I realized I forgot to take off my underwear. But dad wasn't mad. He just got me some new underwear and I went back to bed.

I've got this down. I really am a big kid now.

Giving It the Old College Try

Ok, I know we've had a lot of potty discussions already. And each time we give up. But I promise I am going to do it this time.

Back on July 13th mom gave it to me straight. She said "once your diapers are gone I'm not buying you any more." I thought "yeah, right, whatever mom." But she really meant it. Cause I ran out of diapers that weekend and she started making me wear underwear all day long. Even over night. And I was doing great. I woke up in the morning dry and I went potty every time mom and/or dad asked me to.

Then I started to slip up a little. If they went a little too long without telling me to go I just figured they wanted me to go pee in my underwear. So I did. But apparently that's not what they wanted at all 'cause they were never too happy about it when I got my underwear wet.

Plus I kept pooping in my underwear. We never really had any pooping discussions so I wasn't really sure what to do with that stuff. But we had a system down. I would poop. Mom would clean my underwear out in the sink. And then I'd take a shower. It worked for me, but I could tell mom was none to thrilled with that system.

So, finally, I decided to just give it a whirl. Just for chutes and ladders I decided to try and do it mom and dad's way. So today I felt like I had to go potty. Dad didn't remind me, but I felt it coming on so I decided to go in to the bathroom anyway. So there I was sitting on the potty, doing my thing. And dad walked by. He goes "what are you doing?" I said, "I'm going potty." And then I told him to look. So he came over and took a little peek.

And guess what he saw.

I POOPED. In the potty. And dad was so excited. For a second I thought maybe it was my birthday and then I realized he was happy cause I put my stinkies in the toilet. We even called mom at work and told her. They are both so proud of me. So I've decided I'm going to stick with this new system. It makes everybody so happy. Plus I get cookies when I do it. And mom gives me kisses. It rocks!

Three Year Old Checkup

I visited with Dr. Hayes today. It was my three year old checkup. It was originally scheduled much closer to my birthday (on the 13th), but mom had to reschedule it [twice] because she was volunteering at Keaton's school.

At first I didn't want to take my clothes off. I know what you're thinkin'. I run around at home in just a diaper all the time. But I sensed something bad might happen so I wanted to make sure I could run quickly. But after a little while mom convinced me it would be ok and I got undressed.

First the nurse, Debbie, came in to weigh me and measure me. I am 38 inches tall and I weigh 36 pounds [time or size 6 diapers now]. She also checked my blood pressure. She put that little cup thing around my arm and pumped it up. It was really weird. My BP is 100/60. I think that's good, but she didn't really say.

Then Dr. Hayes came in. He watched me walk, checked me over and talked to my mom. He said that I look like a healthy, strong boy. That's me. I'm a big kid now.

After I got dressed I picked out two super awesome Spiderman stickers. They rock!

My Big Boy Pants

Even though I told her not to, mom bought me some big boy underwear. I do not wear underwear. I wear diapers. She tried every single trick in the book. She told me "your a big kid now." I said, "No, I a baby." She told me that Spencer wears underwear. To which I responded, "So?" She tried to put it on over my diaper, but I wasn't having any of that. I DON'T WEAR UNDERWEAR! I WEAR A DIAPER!

Then just when mom was giving up [she gives up so easy] I decided my new underwear wasn't so bad. It had Super Heroes on it after all. So, with a big, cheesy grin on my face [mom is a sucker for a cute smile] I told her to put the underwear on me. And I wore it all night. I even went potty in the toilet twice. It's nice to occassionally be nice to mom.

More Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated my birthday with the rest of the family and our friends today. We had big plans to play at the park, each cupcakes [that mom spent all morning making] and open presents. Keaton even brought some friends so they could play baseball.

However, when we go to the park, the baseball diamonds were in use. There was a little league game going on. But that wasn't even the worst part of it. It was FREEZING! And not just a little bit chilly, but wish-I'd-brought-my-winter-coat cold. And windy. Everything kept blowing away and our fingers were getting numb.

So we decided to move the party. We went bowling instead. I'd never been bowling before. We bowled in the dark. Well not dark, but it was darkER and they had pretty flourescent lights. And disco balls. It was so neat. Everybody got to wear funny shoes. I just bowled in my socks though. We got these bumper things so none of us every got a gutter ball. We had so much fun.

Then I opened all of my presents. I got some really great stuff. A couple of pools, some bubble wrap [since I'm trying to stay out of the ER now], lots of clothes and some new "guys." I really raked it in. It was awesome.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday. I'm three years old. I'm really getting big. Mom had to work all day and then she scheduled haircuts...on my birthday. What was she thinking? But while she was gone with my brothers and my sister, Dad and I went to the store and bought juice and cupcakes. So when everybody got home we all celebrated. It was a lot of [messy] fun.

Seriously...NO MORE DOCTORS!

Guess what? I went to the ER today. I missed them so. Just thought I should check in and make sure they were all doing their jobs. Yeah right.

Keaton had two friends over. And me and Skyler and Spencer get so excited when Keaton's friends come over. We were wrestling on Keaton's bed and I slipped on the sheet. Then I went flying to the floor.

I went down crying to mommy with Keaton. He was telling mom what happened. Brendon and Dallas came down after us and they said "he's bleeding." So mom whipped me around and I had blood all the way down my back (cause again I was in only a diaper). Mom started saying "oh my God" over and over like she does. She grabbed a washcloth, cleaned off my back and dabbed my owey. I was none to pleased with the dabbing.

It was 8:30pm and were supposed to be getting ready for bed. But instead mom put clothes on me and made Skyler and Spencer get dressed so we could go to the ER. Again!

Mom said "we have to go to the doctor" and I said "no, no doctor." But she totally didn't listen to me.

As soon as I saw exactly where we were heading I was angry. I remember that place vividly and it certainly was not where I wanted to be. But mom drug me in there anyway.

When we got back in to the room, I absolutely refused to sit on the bed. I knew bad things happened on that bed. So Skyler sat on the bed instead. I was ok with that. My head injury wasn't slowing me down. I was running around like a madman. When the physician assistant, Kristin, came in to examine me chills ran down my back. But she let me sit on mom's lap. She looked at my owey. Then she looked in my ears, at my eyes and up my nose. Everything looked good except for that big gaping wound in the back of my head.

I thought I was done. I was ready to go, but mom wouldn't come with me. Then Kristin came back in. With a nurse. And the nurse brought the icky board. The one they strap you in to. I was terrified.

Mom laid me down on that thing and let them just velcro me in there. [I'm now taking applications for a new mom, btw.] They poured some icky smelling stuff on my wound. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. Mom kept telling me I was doing a good job, but I wasn't listening. I was scared.

Then Kristin began stapling my owey. STAPLING!?! Staples don't go in to a person's head. Paper? Yes. Maybe even cloth. But a head? NO! She put about 8 staples in. Then she wanted to redo one. So she took it out and stapled me again. I was freaking.

    
Finally she was done. And I was ready to go. But mom was still sitting there. What now? I was starting to panic again. But then the nurse brought in some paper for my mom to sign and then we left. I was so happy to leave. But I was extremely disappointed that they did not give me a puppet. And I had my eye on this cool dog puppet. Darn them. Maybe next time.

I have to go back in 7 to 10 days to have the staples taken out. Needless to say, I am not too thrilled. But I'm just going to put it out my head until that time comes.

Buying Stock in ERs

Guess what happened to me today? I went to the ER. TWICE! First to remove stitches. And then to put them right back in. At 11:15am they took the stitches out. And then at 10pm I was back so they could sew it back up.

What the [bleep] you ask? Well...

Spencer was showing me his Dinosaur Roar book. He was shaking it and pretending it was roaring. Yeah...roaring right in to my head. He popped me right where my owie is. My cut broke back open. Blood began to trickle down my face and on to my tummy. AGAIN!

So dad took me back to the ER. AGAIN!

And, yes, they remembered me. They work 12 hour shifts there after all.

And because the one girl remembered me...and my screams from this morning...she gave me two puppets. Did you hear me? I am now such a regular at the ER they give me gifts. For Free! The doctor goes "You are going to give him two?" And the nurse said "Yes, I remember him from this morning." I'm becoming some what of a legend.

Good luck to mom on Saturday. She will have to take me back to the ER, with all my brothers and sisters [because Dad will be in Vegas], hold me down and listen to me scream and try to stop me from thrashing as they take out this set of stitches and put on steri strips. They said to be sure to take back the paperwork so they know to put the strips on.

Next week I'll show you pictures of the Caleb wing at the hospital. I practically own that place now.

ER isn't just a TV show

This morning I was minding my own business, bugging my brother and sister like I do every morning. I consider this their fault since I am not a morning person and yet they still insist on waking me up at unthinkable times in the morning. So it's 8am and I'm grouchy. What's new?

Spencer didn't like my grouchiness, apparently. He pushed me and I went head first in to the metal frame on Skyler's bed. That gave me kind of a headache and I was pretty upset.

So I went down to mom and dad's room to complain about it. I was crying and my eyes were all wet. I kept wiping them with my blanket. Dad said "What's wrong?" in a very concerned yet tired voice.

He started to give me a hug and ask me if I was ok and then all of a sudden he jumped up and turned the light on. His frantic "What the @*ll?" made mom pop up even though she was feeling icky with a bad cold. She looked over at me and I had blood gushy down my face, in to my eyes and all over my bare chest [all I had on was a diaper...it was morning after all].

Mom tried to hold back tears as she swept me in to her arms. Dad grabbed a wet washcloth and gave it to mom. She rocked me and wiped the blood off of my head and body and then kept it over my cut. A big huge gash between my eyes at the top of my nose. Dad got a bandaid; one of those that just has a little bar that goes across [kind of looks like the letter "I"] to keep the cut closed. Then he got dressed to take me to the emergency room.

Now I've been to the hospital before, but never to the emergency room. It's not that exciting though. It's not like ER on TV.

They took me in to a little room. The doctor gave me two shots in my forehead; one to numb my head and one to clot the blood to stop the bleeding.

Then he proceeded to stick a needle and thread in to my head. I've see mom do that before...to clothes! Not to human flesh. I was having none of that. I hollered out with all my might.

But nobody seemd to care. He just continued on. The nurse told me I was doing a really good job. "I'm NOT doing a good job." I hollered. She said something else to me, but I told her to "SHUT UP!"




Seven stitches later I got to walk out of there. And now mom and dad tell me I have to go back on Monday so they can take the darn stitches out. Plus they keep slathering this gooey antibiotic stuff on to my cut. I hate that. Man it's hard being a kid.

Counting in the Double Digits

We went to Wisconsin Dells for Spring Break. That has nothing to do with my post here, but we sure are having a lot of fun. I'm a tad bit on the grouchy side. I haven't had time to get a nap in every day and I'm still getting over my stomach flu/ear infections/strep fiasco. So people need to bear with me.

So anyway, on the way from our hotel room to the awesomely huge indoor waterpark I started counting.

I said "1...2...3...4...5...6..."

At that point mom and dad weren't really listening because they've heard that all before.

So I continued on. "7...8...9..."

Now I had their attention. But I wasn't about to stop there.

"10...11...12!"

Yep you read that right. I can count to 12. Mom and dad were amazed. I'm their little prodigy child.

House of Sickness

After giving my mom and dad quite a scare, I'm finally on the road to recovery. I guess I should start with Monday. Monday morning Skyler got sick and had to stay home from school. She slept almost all day, but she was all better by Tuesday. Then on Tuesday night Spencer got sick. So mom and dad made me sleep on the couch so I wouldn't breath in all of Spencer's stomach flu germs. But they were too late.

At 3am I threw up all over the couch and the floor. Dad got me a "puke bucket" [as we affectionately call it at our house] and a glass of Sprite. I was pretty good about making it in to the bucket all night. But by 9am on Wednesday morning I was quickly losing the energy to move and making it to the bucket was getting harder and harder. Mom had to shampoo the carpet many times and we went through almost a whole bottle of Resolve carpet cleaner.

By Wednesday night Spencer was starting to feel better [well at least he stopped throwing up], but I was feeling worse. I couldn't even keep water down. And I didn't have the energy to move. Mom thought I looked like I had lost 10 pounds already. [I think she was exaggerating.]

On Thursday morning mom took my temperature before she went to work. She read 103.5 in my left ear and 104 in my right. Needless to say, she was freaking out. Dad came upstairs and retook my temperature. He got 101.5 in one ear and 101.7 in the other. Ok, expect to see a new thermometer on our wishlist this year! So mom went ahead and went to work.

By the afternoon I was finally keeping water down. But I still didn't want to eat anything. And I still had so little energy that I couldn't even stand on my own. Around 1pm dad took my temperature again. Now he was getting around 103 in each ear and he was really worried. So mom called the doctor and they told her to bring me in right away.

At the doctor's office we discovered that I have a really, really bad ear infection in my left ear and I have pretty bad strep. The doctor said my ear and my throat were beet red. She had the nurses give me two shots of antibiotics in my legs. I did not like that at all. It hurt and they made me cry. And not just a whimper cry, but an all out hollering, alligator tears cry. The doctor also prescribed Augmentin. 1 1/2 teaspoons a day for 10 days. Mom thought that sounded like a lot for a little guy like me. So my sickness must be pretty bad.

Around 5:30pm mom gave me some Tylenol for my fever. Within five minutes the Tylenol came back up. So I guess even though I could finally keep water down, water was all I could keep down. Mom tried to give me Tylenol again at 10pm, but again I couldn't keep it down. So I just went to bed and tried to get some rest.

On Friday morning, I was starting to feel better. I was getting some of my energy back. I could walk around again and stay conscious for TV watching. Before she left for work, Mom tried to give me my first does of Augmentin. ICK. It does not taste good. It took both mom and dad to try and get it in me and even with both of them I only swallowed about one teaspoon instead of the whole dose. And then about 15 minutes later I threw it all up. On the carpet. So mom made me another doctor's appointment for 12:20 with the nurse practioner.

Before my appointment with the nurse practioner dad gave me four bites of yogurt. Which I then threw up. A little bit later he tried two bites of ice cream. But I threw that up too.

At the doctor's office they could see that I was doing better then the previous day, but I still couldn't keep anything but water down, I still had really bad diarrhea [and a horrible, bright red diaper rash to go with it], and I wasn't getting my medicine because I kept throwing it back up. So the nurse practioner prescribed a promethazine suppositories. They are supposed to help me with my nausea.

Mom couldn't bring herself to give me the suppository so dad did it when he was changing my diaper. Then mom gave me another dose of my Augmentin. And I kept it down this time. Woo Hoo.

So today I'm starting to feel much better. Still far from perfect, but I've been drinking water and pedialyte and they've been staying in my tummy. And I took my medicine (without the suppository) and it stayed in my tummy too. But I still can't stomach milk. And let me tell you, when milk comes back up it's not pretty.

Around noon today mom was eating a donut and it looked good so I asked her for one. She gave me a quarter of the donut and I ate it. But that's all I could stomach. I kept it down, but I didn't want to tempt my fate so when mom offered me more I said no.

Around 6pm mom got me to try a piece of toast with some butter on it. She cut it in to halves and hand fed me the first half. I was a little leary at first. I was in no mood to throw up again. So I took a little nibble. Everything seemed fine. So I took another little nibble. Then I started taking bigger bites. It was yummy and I ate it all. And I ate the second half all by myself. A half an hour later it was all still settled in my tummy so mom gave me another piece and I ate all that too.

So in four days, all I have eaten is a quarter of a donut and two pieces of toast. And I still have diarrhea. But as long as you don't give me milk, I seem to be keeping my limited food down. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Hopefully I will be able to eat, my stools will harden and I will be able to get rid of this rash. One can only hope.

Another icky dentist appointment

I had another dentist appointment today. Dr. Kelly brushed my teeth again and I was still none to happy about it; although mom did say I was better this time then I was last time. Maybe next time (in six months) I'll be an old pro at it.

So anyway, Dr. Kelly said everything is looking great. So I guess I should stop fighting mom every night when she tries to brush my teeth because I guess it's for the best. We'll see how that goes.

Not So Much

I've decided I'm not really all that keen on going potty. It's a little boring. I still went potty in my diaper. I only went potty on the toilet when mom and dad told me to. And mom was starting to get on my nerves putting me on the potty so early in the morning. I'm seriously not a morning person and I just need a little space to myself before people start talking to me or looking at me. Hmmm....where do I get that from? So I've decided to put my foot down. Actually, mom and dad will probably tell you they decided to stop pushing me. But I like to look at as me being the boss...like usual. So if I ask, mom and dad put me on the potty, but they aren't pushing it now. Mom said we'd try hard again closer to summer. I'm cool with that.

Getting the Hang of This

Going potty on the toilet is fun. Mom and dad give me a sucker when I tinkle in the toilet. And if I want just a few more minutes before I have to go to bed all I have to do is say "I gotta go potty" and mom or dad will let me sit on the toilet. This is really working out for. I even let mom put those icky Pull-Ups on me. I was really, really against it, but she forced me. Now I've decided they aren't really that bad. So we'll just keep on trekking.